SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Electronics giant Samsung will this week offer an unusually early software update for its newly released Galaxy S8 phone, it said Monday, after some consumers complained of red-tinted screens. The launch of the device is a key step for the South Korean tech firm as it seeks to move on from last year’s humiliating withdrawal of the Galaxy Note 7 over exploding batteries, which hammered the firm’s once-stellar reputation. The Galaxy S8 […]
Tag: technology
Virtual training for dentists
(Reuters) — A Japanese dental equipment manufacturer has developed a prototype mixed reality (MR) dental treatment simulation system. J. Morita Co. demonstrated the technology to Japanese media last Friday (April 21). The company says its technology is the world’s first dental treatment simulation to use MR, combining augmented reality (AR) with virtual reality (VR) technologies. The system is devised to help dentists learn much of their trade without the need to practice on real patients. […]
Facebook gives peek inside unit studying brain-to-text technology
CALIFORNIA, United States (Reuters) — At Facebook’s annual developers conference on Wednesday (April 19), the company revealed a secretive unit headed by a former chief of the Pentagon’s research arm, which was studying ways for people to communicate by thought and touch. Facebook launched the research shop, called Building 8, last year to conduct long-term work that might lead to hardware products. In charge of the unit is Regina Dugan, who led a similar group at […]
Bubble-like water bottle you can eat
LONDON, England (Reuters) — Small transparent spheres filled with natural or flavored water could help provide a solution to London’s plastic waste problem, according to the start-up company based in the British capital that manufactures them. With many cities around the world struggling to dispose of vast numbers of used plastic water bottles, the biodegradable ‘Ooho balls’ have begun quenching the thirst of consumers at special events in San Francisco and London. The balls, which […]
Toddlers playing with touchscreens sleep less: study
PARIS, France (AFP) — The more toddlers play with touchscreen devices the less they sleep, according to a study released Thursday that suggests the findings could be cause for concern. For every additional hour using a touchscreen phone or tablet during the day, children aged six months to three years slept nearly 16 minutes less in each 24 hour period, researchers reported in the journal Scientific Reports. But the study could not determine if the […]
Toyota launches robot to keep elderly mobile
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Toyota Motor Corporation unveiled Welwalk WW-1000 on Wednesday (April 12) , a robot designed to assist in rehabiliation of patients who have lower limb paralysis. Dozens of journalists gathered at Toyota Motors Tokyo headquarter office to observe a demonstration of the new robot, which comes with a wide variety of rehabilitiation functions that adjusts itself to the user. The robot consists of a treadmill, a monitor, and a robotic leg that […]
Facebook looking at behavior to weed out fake accounts
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Facebook on Wednesday said it has started weeding out bogus accounts by watching for suspicious behavior such as repetitive posts or torrents of messages. The security improvement was described as being part of a broader effort to rid the leading social network of hoaxes, misinformation, and fake news by making sure people are who they claim to be. “We’ve found that when people represent themselves on Facebook the same […]
As streaming booms, songs getting faster: study
by Shaun TANDON Agence France-Presse NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Streaming is making it quicker not only to play music. A new study finds that pop songs themselves are getting faster as listeners’ attention spans diminish. Instrumental openings to songs have shrunk dramatically over the past three decades and, to a lesser extent, the average tempo of hit singles has been speeding up, the research found. Hubert Leveille Gauvin, a doctoral student in music […]
Australia takes Apple to court over ‘refusing service’ claims
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Apple was Thursday taken to court by Australia’s consumer watchdog for violating laws by allegedly refusing to look at or repair some iPads and iPhones previously serviced by a third party. The tech giant “made false, misleading, or deceptive representations about consumers’ rights under the Australian Consumer Law,” the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) charged. The proceedings, against Apple Pty Limited and its US-based parent Apple Inc, were brought on […]
Hollywood’s French film showcase gets high-tech
by Frankie TAGGART Agence France-Presse The world’s largest festival of French film hits Hollywood this month with an innovative line-up embracing the latest technology to showcase the best of the country’s filmmaking talent. COLCOA is offering a record 82 films, television series and shorts, many never seen before in the United States, as well as a handful of international premieres and, for the first time, a web series segment. There will also be a new […]
“Brexit 1.0” – Study reveals Britain’s original split from Europe
LONDON, ENGLAND, United Kingdom (Reuters) — Scientists have found evidence of how ancient Britain separated from Europe in what they are dubbing “Brexit 1.0” – a flooding event that happened in two stages thousands of years ago. In research published in the journal Nature Communications on Tuesday (April 4), the scientists said they now have proof that the opening of the Dover Strait in the English Channel, severing the land between Britain and France, occurred […]
SpaceX poised to launch first recycled rocket
by Kerry SHERIDAN Agence France-Presse MIAMI, United States (AFP) — SpaceX is poised to launch its first recycled rocket on Thursday, using a booster that sent food and supplies to the astronauts living at the International Space Station in April. The goal of the launch, scheduled for 6:27 pm (2227 GMT) from Cape Canaveral, Florida, is to send a communications satellite for Luxembourg-based company SES into a distant orbit. Standing tall at the NASA launchpad, […]





